Sing to me! Something of sunlight and bloom,
I am so compassed with sorrow and gloom,
I am so sick with the world’s noisse and strife, –
Sing of the beauty and brightness of life –
Sing to me, sing to me!
Sing to me! Something that’s jubilant, glad!
I am so weary, my soul so sad.
All my earth riches are covered with rust,
All my bright dreams are but ashes and dust.
Sing to me, sing to me!
Sing of the blossoms that open in spring,
How the sweet flowers blow, and the long lichens cling,
Say, though the winter is round a-bout me,
There are bright summers and springs yet to be.
Sing to me, sing to me!
Sing me a song full of hope and of truth,
Brimming with all the sweet fancies of youth!
Say, though my sorrow I may not forget,
I have not quite done with happiness yet.
Sing to me, sing to me!
Lay your soft fingers just here, on my cheek;
Turn the light lower – there – no, do not speak,
But sing! My heart thrills at your beautiful voice;
Sing till I turn from my grief and rejoice.
Sing to me, sing to me!

Programming Aids

Performance Difficulty:

moderate

Seasonal Usage:

Spring

Descriptive Terms:

celebration

music

festival

love

hope

Allow Excerpts:

Composition is a single movement

Composer’s Notes:

Every commission is a unique journey, and the process of composing Sing to Me! was no exception. When Kirk Marcy—Director of Choral Activities at Edmonds Community College—commissioned me to compose a piece for their Symphonic Choir, he indicated it would commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the college’s Committee on Arts, Culture, and Civic Engagement. Accordingly, the work was to be Celebratory, Inclusive, Upbeat, and Engaging. Our initial meeting was in June 2012. Then everything changed. A month later, Kirk’s wife, Laurie Cappello, also a choir director, was diagnosed with stage-4 ovarian cancer. When Kirk and I met again in mid-December that same year, Laurie had completed about two-thirds of her treatment. I remember Kirk saying to me, “I’m not sure exactly how, but I know the experience that Laurie and I have gone through is going to influence this piece somehow.”

When I asked Kirk for some descriptive phrases that could guide me as I looked for a text, he said: “Sing for Life,” “Living for Today and for the present,” “Thankfulness for one more day with my wife,” “A cause to celebrate the successes of the journey,” “Transformative,” “Beauty out of strife,” and most profoundly, “The darkest moments can reveal some of the brightest lights.” While searching the Internet for texts about “hope,” I found the perfect poem: Sing to Me! by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. The resulting musical setting captures both the celebration of ACCE’s 10-year history as well as Kirk’s and Laurie’s transformative journey.